All Four Burners

Tri-tip Fajitas and Pico de Gallo

Posted on 15 June 2010

Summer; glorious summer. You are finally, finally here. That means that it’s finally time for grilling. Especially my new favorite cut of meat, tri-tip.

Matt introduced me to tri-tip, in a recipe inspired by that of the Central Coast, two weeks ago. It was delectable, but not really the type of thing I usually make.

You see, I usually don’t do beef (unless it’s of the ground variety). And, on the rare occasions when I do, things have gone terribly wrong.

Like the time I totally blew Matt’s birthday dinner by not bringing the filets to room temperature before using his allegedly “foolproof” method of searing then broiling. He didn’t buy my story that I had cooked them to bullseye perfection (à la Thomas Keller); instead, he called me out on the fact that they were raw in the center.

But I screwed up the courage to try again this weekend! With a different (read: less expensive) cut of meat! And using a different cooking method!

Plus, who doesn’t *love* fajitas? I mean, truly madly deeply. The perfect searing of the meat. The slight sweetness of the grilled onions. The ability to select exactly which toppings to use.

Throw in some pico de gallo and a fresh batch of the cilantro guacamole I made a few weeks ago and you have the makings of a very fine Sunday dinner.

My double butterflying of the tri-tip was pathetic. So very pathetic. Unless you have incredible knife skills, I recommend getting your butcher to do it — that is, if you have a butcher to do it — because you will end up with thin and thick parts and it will, of course, cook unevenly. Although Matt was kind this time and told me that the insufficiently cooked pieces were “rare.” I did notice, though, that he didn’t eat any of them.

Adapted from Serious Eats and Kitchen Daily

Note to self: do not scoop out tomato guts over an open trash can. It seems as though it will make cleanup easier, but, inevitably, you will drop a tomato half into it. And then cry a little.